Heavy Metal Sunset

(Unemployment; US: 28 Oct 2008; UK: Available as import)

Steve Singh: Heavy Metal Sunset

Steve Singh takes on the title of one-man-band and runs with it, not limiting himself to undertaking all of the musical duties on his latest, Heavy Metal Sunset, but also the producing and recording end of it, as well. The Toronto-based singer/songwriter’s third album orders a round of short ‘n’ sassy songs, each more quirky than the next, lasting no longer than three minutes. Lyrically, he doesn’t say much, delving into a nonsensical sort of fun that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Musically, Singh manages to pack in a variety of sounds on the album, each a truly unique piece but features a common, sonic thread of a mash-up of folk and electronica.

Chock full of unexpected touches, Singh keeps things fun with surprise elements like the German oompah-infused “The Weasel of Coventry” and a zippy kazoo on “Is This Some Kind of Shakedown?”. While Singh sounds like a wholly unique animal with the synthed-out bliss of Heavy Metal Sunset, his vocals and the piano-stylings on “Wash My Hair” sound Lennon-esque on “Wash My Hair” before morphing into a vaguely Pink Floyd-style synthstrumentation. In spite of the one-man show that is Steven Singh, he pulls off an amazingly full sound that is both instantly catchy and overwhelmingly fun.

Lana Cooper has written various reviews and features for PopMatters since 2006. She's also written news stories for EDGE Media, a nationwide network devoted to LGBT news and issues. In 2013, she wrote her first novel, Bad Taste In Men, described as one part chick lit for tomboys and one part Freaks and Geeks for kids who came of age in the mid-'90s. She lives in Philadelphia and enjoys spending time with her family, reading comic books, and avoiding eye contact with strangers on public transportation. A graduate of Temple University, Cooper doesn't usually talk about herself in the first person, but makes an exception when writing an author bio.